All I can say is that I get a shiat ton of questions about my bright red Nokia Lumia 920 whenever someone sees it.

And the photos it can snap on the 920 are downright amazing (both the Carl Zeiss lens and the imaging sensor are gyroscopically stabilized). Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive work from the 8.7MP camera. No filters or editing were needed.

This is probably the best MS ad in the latest campaign, but it really only exemplifies three Madison Ave. agencies fighting against each other. Nobody I've ever met is anything like anyone on in the ads from the three in question.

When you mention the competition in your marketing campaign, you've admitted defeat. Coke has never mentioned Pepsi in an ad. McDonald's has never mentioned BK, etc. The first time I saw a Ram ad that mentioned Tundra, I knew that the Toyota had "arrived."

waterrockets:This is probably the best MS ad in the latest campaign, but it really only exemplifies three Madison Ave. agencies fighting against each other. Nobody I've ever met is anything like anyone on in the ads from the three in question.

When you mention the competition in your marketing campaign, you've admitted defeat. Coke has never mentioned Pepsi in an ad. McDonald's has never mentioned BK, etc. The first time I saw a Ram ad that mentioned Tundra, I knew that the Toyota had "arrived."

I wouldn't say lost. Pepsi isn't Coke but they're still doing very well for themselves. Microsoft knows they're way behind and to pretend otherwise may keep them from being as innovative as they'll need to be to catch up.

Is this why Apple continues to lose in the PC space due to those "hi I'm a Mac" commercials?

Anyways, that commercial is hilarious, but Microsoft really needs to make getting sh*t on your phone much much much easier. Cause right now it's downright hostile towards you, like it dares you to try and load songs on it. And forget about movies, seriously forget about them. They don't work on it. But hey, they've got spreadsheets...

Although I will say, it is ROCK solid. My 2.5 year old windows phone outperforms my wife's new GS3 in smoothness and... not freezing-ness. No lag, ever, despite it being old and updated to new software.

I have played with a couple Windows phones. Kind of like them. Not interested in a contract though.I also only just do gmail, scrabble, and fark browsing. So any phone that has a decent battery life makes me happy. /currently have a ZTE N9100 which has wicked good battery life and dual CPU. $200 out the door!

I've tried Windows Phone. It's pretty good and I'd love to have one but I'm on Virgin Mobile which doesn't have WP devices. If tmobile had their no contract deal in place back when I bought a phone, I may have gone with them instead of Virgin (virtual Sprint).

I've tried Windows Phone. It's pretty good and I'd love to have one but I'm on Virgin Mobile which doesn't have WP devices. If tmobile had their no contract deal in place back when I bought a phone, I may have gone with them instead of Virgin (virtual Sprint).

Didn't we find out T-Mobile's "no contract" deals were basically contracts in all but name? I vaguely remember an article about that recently.

I've tried Windows Phone. It's pretty good and I'd love to have one but I'm on Virgin Mobile which doesn't have WP devices. If tmobile had their no contract deal in place back when I bought a phone, I may have gone with them instead of Virgin (virtual Sprint).

Didn't we find out T-Mobile's "no contract" deals were basically contracts in all but name? I vaguely remember an article about that recently.

Only if you get a phone with it. Essentially it's extend-o-pay on the phone (iphone example $99 down + $20 a month for 24 months - essentially $580 at the end)

jso2897:So you're saying that if I got a Windows phone, and made a point of publicly liking it, I could annoy the maximum number of fanbois? I'll have to look into that.

I have a Palm(HP) Pre2, and while it's a two(or is that three) year old phone, it still holds it's own for usability, easy, and features that still haven't been copied yet. (but some have been catching on more lately).

Sure I don't have the hundred of thousands of apps for it like the other systems, but I have enough for what I need to use it for.

I've yet to see a phone or system that I'd be happy with compared to it.

I still enjoy having people try to compare things, and they dig and dig through their apps for something simple, while I simply do a couple of taps and I'm done.

MrSteve007:Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive work from the 8.7MP camera. No filters or editing were needed.[sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net image 850x478]

Well, it's a chicken and egg thing. It's a smaller chunk of marketshare, so there are fewer specialized apps, but marketshare growth is hampered by the perceived lack of apps.

That said, 60% of apps on the iTunes app store are never even downloaded.Also, any "gotta have" app either finds its way to Windows Phone eventually (see: Pandora, Temple Run, Angry Birds Space, et. al), has a very nice (sometimes superior) 3rd party alternative on Windows Phone, or is handled nicely by a mobile web site.

You can have my Nokia Lumia 920 when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. (Which is what I said about my CyanogenMod device when I joined Microsoft...)

MrSteve007:All I can say is that I get a shiat ton of questions about my bright red Nokia Lumia 920 whenever someone sees it.[www.mjgsm.vipserv.org image 600x600]

And the photos it can snap on the 920 are downright amazing (both the Carl Zeiss lens and the imaging sensor are gyroscopically stabilized). Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive work from the 8.7MP camera. No filters or editing were needed.[sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net image 850x478]

I'll say this; the camera on the 920 is fantastic. It's just a shame I'd have to use WinPhone to have it.

The problem with Android phones is Android vendors. Android 4.2 is beautiful and snappy, yet the OEMs feel they need to shiat all over it with TouchWiz and Sense. How hard would it be to just offer an option to disable the skin?

Um, that's a Pepsi ad mentioning Coke. Max had a 13-year head start on Zero, and now Zero is piled high on end caps in our grocery stores, available on 90% of the Coke fountains here in Austin. I know soft drink preference is a regional thing, but Zero is doing fine in the last 2-3 years.

Mad_Radhu:The problem with Android phones is Android vendors. Android 4.2 is beautiful and snappy, yet the OEMs feel they need to shiat all over it with TouchWiz and Sense. How hard would it be to just offer an option to disable the skin?

That is why I've decided that all my future Android phones will be Nexuses (Nexii?). Vanilla Android just plain works better, faster, and cleaner than any of the skins, to say nothing of update potential. Yes, I know, there's always CyanogenMod, but frankly, unless you have the latest Samsung Galaxy, they're not always much help either.

MrSteve007:Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive

OK, random dude sticking adverts on a message board, maybe you know something about phones, but thinking that any of those are even mild impediments to a clear picture is really just telling us that you don't know anything about photography.

Jim_Callahan:MrSteve007: Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive

OK, random dude sticking adverts on a message board, maybe you know something about phones, but thinking that any of those are even mild impediments to a clear picture is really just telling us that you don't know anything about photography.

Hmmm... his post does have a "paid PR flacky" vibe about it, doesn't it?

Jim_Callahan:MrSteve007: Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive

OK, random dude sticking adverts on a message board, maybe you know something about phones, but thinking that any of those are even mild impediments to a clear picture is really just telling us that you don't know anything about photography.

You must have massive amounts of experience and skill in photography - since you know what creates tough conditions to shoot in. Why not send some examples of night, handheld photography you've done from the water.

While photography is only a side portion of my day job (typically tilt shift shots of buildings), seeing as one of my bachelors degrees is in Communications, specializing in Film and Video studies - you surely must have more experience than me!

Nevermind my pro gear (Canon 5D mkii w/ L series glass), the two golden Telly Awards on my desk for television production, or the simple fact that I'm the vice-president of the regional Emmy Awards (National Association of Television Arts and Sciences), surely I don't know anything about photography.

MrSteve007:Jim_Callahan: MrSteve007: Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive

OK, random dude sticking adverts on a message board, maybe you know something about phones, but thinking that any of those are even mild impediments to a clear picture is really just telling us that you don't know anything about photography.

You must have massive amounts of experience and skill in photography - since you know what creates tough conditions to shoot in. Why not send some examples of night, handheld photography you've done from the water.

While photography is only a side portion of my day job (typically tilt shift shots of buildings), seeing as one of my bachelors degrees is in Communications, specializing in Film and Video studies - you surely must have more experience than me!

Nevermind my pro gear (Canon 5D mkii w/ L series glass), the two golden Telly Awards on my desk for television production, or the simple fact that I'm the vice-president of the regional Emmy Awards (National Association of Television Arts and Sciences), surely I don't know anything about photography.

hawcian:Didn't we find out T-Mobile's "no contract" deals were basically contracts in all but name? I vaguely remember an article about that recently.

Thought that was only if you did the weird rent-to-own deal they do with the iphone. I hate buying anything over time. Even cars I pay for the whole thing up front. Too bad I couldn't afford to do that with a house but since phones are much cheaper, that's what I do for them. T-Mobile's contractless business might not be a good deal, I haven't looked at it closely enough since Virgin and my current phone work fine for me. Next time I'm in the market for a new phone though, I'll do the math and see if it's a good deal or not.

MrSteve007:All I can say is that I get a shiat ton of questions about my bright red Nokia Lumia 920 whenever someone sees it.

[www.mjgsm.vipserv.org image 600x600]

And the photos it can snap on the 920 are downright amazing (both the Carl Zeiss lens and the imaging sensor are gyroscopically stabilized). Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive work from the 8.7MP camera. No filters or editing were needed.[sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net image 850x478]

Definitely the best phone I've ever owned, although I opted for the matte finish cyan version instead. I'm even more excited about the rumored next 9xx phone that has a removable battery, as that is quite literally my only complaint with the 920 as-is.

I've tried Windows Phone. It's pretty good and I'd love to have one but I'm on Virgin Mobile which doesn't have WP devices. If tmobile had their no contract deal in place back when I bought a phone, I may have gone with them instead of Virgin (virtual Sprint).

Didn't we find out T-Mobile's "no contract" deals were basically contracts in all but name? I vaguely remember an article about that recently.

No, not at all. T-Mobile's no contract plans are just that -- no contract. If you want to get a zero-interest loan from them to buy the phone, then you have to maintain service until the loan is paid off, but other than that, you're under no commitment whatsoever. And that's a contract on the phone, not the service plan. What we found out is that the Washington state AG office doesn't know the difference between a phone and a plan.

Um, that's a Pepsi ad mentioning Coke. Max had a 13-year head start on Zero, and now Zero is piled high on end caps in our grocery stores, available on 90% of the Coke fountains here in Austin. I know soft drink preference is a regional thing, but Zero is doing fine in the last 2-3 years.

MrSteve007:Jim_Callahan: MrSteve007: Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive

OK, random dude sticking adverts on a message board, maybe you know something about phones, but thinking that any of those are even mild impediments to a clear picture is really just telling us that you don't know anything about photography.

You must have massive amounts of experience and skill in photography - since you know what creates tough conditions to shoot in. Why not send some examples of night, handheld photography you've done from the water.

While photography is only a side portion of my day job (typically tilt shift shots of buildings), seeing as one of my bachelors degrees is in Communications, specializing in Film and Video studies - you surely must have more experience than me!

Nevermind my pro gear (Canon 5D mkii w/ L series glass), the two golden Telly Awards on my desk for television production, or the simple fact that I'm the vice-president of the regional Emmy Awards (National Association of Television Arts and Sciences), surely I don't know anything about photography.

MrSteve007:Jim_Callahan: MrSteve007: Considering I snapped this at about midnight, handheld, while moving up and down on a floating dock, it's pretty damned impressive

OK, random dude sticking adverts on a message board, maybe you know something about phones, but thinking that any of those are even mild impediments to a clear picture is really just telling us that you don't know anything about photography.

You must have massive amounts of experience and skill in photography - since you know what creates tough conditions to shoot in. Why not send some examples of night, handheld photography you've done from the water.

While photography is only a side portion of my day job (typically tilt shift shots of buildings), seeing as one of my bachelors degrees is in Communications, specializing in Film and Video studies - you surely must have more experience than me!

Nevermind my pro gear (Canon 5D mkii w/ L series glass), the two golden Telly Awards on my desk for television production, or the simple fact that I'm the vice-president of the regional Emmy Awards (National Association of Television Arts and Sciences), surely I don't know anything about photography.